1400: Massa goes fastest with a brilliant final sector to take his third pole in a row with 1:21.421. Alonso cannot pip him in the closing seconds with Raikkonen third and Hamilton fourth.

1358: Hamilton is off for another flyer under instructions that he can find more pace in the first two sectors. Meanwhile, Raikkonen is the fastest man out on track at the moment.

1356: All getting serious now, Hamilton sets the pace before he is overhauled by Raikkonen. Massa comes between the two of them in second only for Alonso to pour on the pace and go fastest with 1:21.661 to the cheers of the Spanish crowd.

1355: Into the last five minutes now and Raikkonen is on the move, as is Hamilton.

1351: So they are all out there and most of the frontrunners are using their harder tyres.

Ahh - forget that. In they all come for new tyres, and Robert Kubica opts for hard tyres for his BMW Sauber.

1350: Alonso leads the timing with 1:22.846 but McLaren have given Alonso eight seconds worth of fuel - so he is running quite heavy, if that is how much fuel actually went in. All 10 cars are out on the track now.

1345: Lights are green and out come the drivers, led by Hamilton in his McLaren. Raikkonen comes up close behind Hamilton in a bit of niggling rivalry. Alonso stays well out of it, back in the McLaren garage.

1340: Davidson was a bit unlucky in the second qualifying session as he veered into the dust and gravel at Turn Nine and will start from 15th on the grid. Button lines up in his Honda in 14th.

And here's some good news for Heikki Kovalainen, as he has made it through to the final shoot-out for the first time in his Renault.

"Heikki will be well pleased and will now want to keep Coulthard and Trulli at bay."Five Live analyst Maurice Hamilton

1336: The big guns are safely through to the final session then, so here's who has not been lucky this time.

Webber never really got the car out of the garage and reveals his Red Bull was suffering from problems with his hydraulics.

1312: Some problems down in the Honda garage for Jenson Button, but he should just cling on for the second session. Mark Webber and Ralf Schumacher are amongst the big names in the drop zone.

1310: Into the last five minutes of qualifying now and Hamilton tops the standings with a flying 1:21.120. Alonso soon follows his McLaren team-mate out but he has to settle for second.

1306: None of the big names are out yet and Anthony Davidson leaps up to the top of the standings in his Super Aguri.

1302: Toyota's Jarno Trulli is the first car out and so he sets the first time of 1:23.0795.

1300: The drivers are in their cars, and ready to come out of their garages for the first 15-minute session. Oh and there's the first glimpse of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, who is mysteriously helping out his former team Ferrari.

1255: "The expectation on Hamilton will be very high in qualifying - but conditions are absolutely perfect."Five Live analyst Maurice Hamilton

1242: The pressure is on Alonso as he will be expected to do well at his home Grand Prix in Barcelona, where he won last year.

And here's a bit of trivia: Alonso's team McLaren report they have sold more merchandise on the first day in Spain than during the whole weekend in Bahrain.

1237: The Circuit de Catalunya is bathed in warm sunshine with temperatures a pleasant 28C with track temperatures rising to 42C.

Pre-race:

After a month's break, the intriguing Formula One season continues in Barcelona with world champion Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and Britain's Lewis Hamilton tied at the top of the standings.

Hamilton set the pace in final practice as he goes in search of his maiden career pole at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The 22-year-old Briton was fastest through all the sectors on his way to a flying lap of one minute, 21.233 seconds.

He was followed in by Alonso, BMW Sauber duo Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld, while the Ferraris will be looking for further improvement.

The high-speed nature of Barcelona's circuit has been tempered as a tight chicane has been added between the last two corners to improve safety and help overtaking by slowing cars through the last corner.

And here are the rules of qualifying again:

After the first 15-minute session, the slowest six cars will be eliminated. Six more cars will then be eliminated during a second spell and then the remaining top 10 cars will battle it out for the grid positions.